Post by Liteway on Jun 26, 2016 16:16:13 GMT -5
At the Oklahoma City Sheriff's Training Track 4001 north Air Depot, n of Midwest City. See google maps.
I had no prior approval to run, so I arrived early hoping a little schmoozing might get me on the track. After much hand ringing and failure to reach either their insurance carrier or national for guidance, they
agreed I could have a go. With the warning there is unlikely to be a second time after they have been able to research whether trikes are eligible. I am the first and maybe only trike to ever run with them. Porsche guys, should you ever have occasion to read this thanks much for sticking your neck out. It would have been easier/safer to send me home.
When I got a look at the course, I almost chickened out. It was nothing like the parking lot stuff I ran on 45 years ago, my only prior experience.
It was pretty much a full blown road course with a slalom leading a into sweeper after a 500ft straight on one side and the same thing on the other, but the straight on that side was around a 1/4 mile long.
Talking to a Mustang GT500 guy later I told him I was getting mid-way into 3 gear which should translate to 100+, but I was so trying to hit the right braking point that I could not look down long enough to see the digital speedo. He was not impressed, as he recconded he was hitting 130/135 before braking for the slalom. Needless to say my time was slightly down on his.
The only real kink in the course was just off the starting line to discourage burnouts. This was my best spot on the track as I could accelerate right through it if I did't floor it and it set me up real well for the straight that opened up just past.
The other part of the course where the trike did well was a series of gentle s bends that I could blast through at around 75 or 80 and the chassis felt rock solid even as power was aburptly cut and applied at various points.
But there were problems. Each end of the course was a wide radius u sweeper of maybe a 150ft radius or so. I had a hard time judging my braking points as I entered the corners because they were proceeded by a decreasing interval slalom at the end of long straight, forcing me to brake as I slalomed. I almost never got the entry or exit line correct on those u's. This is where driver skill really tells, and apparently I need more.
The 6" rotors I use to slow at the end of the straight are not confidence builders either and its quite likely most every one else had better brakes, more easily modulated.
Another problem with the trike is it still has a tendency to lift the inside wheel when exiting tight corners, something I just failed to push hard enough on public roads to see as a problem.
In those long sweepers, Its plain there is still too much body roll even though I lowered the suspension to only 3" of clearance just for the event.
I was getting a lot of rear wheel chattering/hop when downshifting for corners, and really bad if I late braked into one. Adjusting rebound damping on the last run seemed to help that a lot though.
As you would expect at a Porsche club event, most entrants were Porsches, ranging from a late model 911 GT2 to a couple of older Boxsters. There was also a skillfully driven Corvette C6, M3 BMW, MX-5 and sprinkling of BRZs, the mentioned GT500, a new Camaro and a wickedly fast Mitsu EVo
I finished 18th of 22 beating 1 BRZ, a Boxster, a Cayman and the M3.(revision, I finished 17th, earlier missed a 911 on the sheet that made only a 4 runs before skipping the last group of four when the heat was up. AC use discouraged to prevent condensation on the track).
Given a tighter course, I could do much better but who can blame these guys. If I had a 911, I too would want to have room to let it breath
Fastest lap was by the highly Modified EVO.
pin.it/pbzgbimdclzfcx
I had no prior approval to run, so I arrived early hoping a little schmoozing might get me on the track. After much hand ringing and failure to reach either their insurance carrier or national for guidance, they
agreed I could have a go. With the warning there is unlikely to be a second time after they have been able to research whether trikes are eligible. I am the first and maybe only trike to ever run with them. Porsche guys, should you ever have occasion to read this thanks much for sticking your neck out. It would have been easier/safer to send me home.
When I got a look at the course, I almost chickened out. It was nothing like the parking lot stuff I ran on 45 years ago, my only prior experience.
It was pretty much a full blown road course with a slalom leading a into sweeper after a 500ft straight on one side and the same thing on the other, but the straight on that side was around a 1/4 mile long.
Talking to a Mustang GT500 guy later I told him I was getting mid-way into 3 gear which should translate to 100+, but I was so trying to hit the right braking point that I could not look down long enough to see the digital speedo. He was not impressed, as he recconded he was hitting 130/135 before braking for the slalom. Needless to say my time was slightly down on his.
The only real kink in the course was just off the starting line to discourage burnouts. This was my best spot on the track as I could accelerate right through it if I did't floor it and it set me up real well for the straight that opened up just past.
The other part of the course where the trike did well was a series of gentle s bends that I could blast through at around 75 or 80 and the chassis felt rock solid even as power was aburptly cut and applied at various points.
But there were problems. Each end of the course was a wide radius u sweeper of maybe a 150ft radius or so. I had a hard time judging my braking points as I entered the corners because they were proceeded by a decreasing interval slalom at the end of long straight, forcing me to brake as I slalomed. I almost never got the entry or exit line correct on those u's. This is where driver skill really tells, and apparently I need more.
The 6" rotors I use to slow at the end of the straight are not confidence builders either and its quite likely most every one else had better brakes, more easily modulated.
Another problem with the trike is it still has a tendency to lift the inside wheel when exiting tight corners, something I just failed to push hard enough on public roads to see as a problem.
In those long sweepers, Its plain there is still too much body roll even though I lowered the suspension to only 3" of clearance just for the event.
I was getting a lot of rear wheel chattering/hop when downshifting for corners, and really bad if I late braked into one. Adjusting rebound damping on the last run seemed to help that a lot though.
As you would expect at a Porsche club event, most entrants were Porsches, ranging from a late model 911 GT2 to a couple of older Boxsters. There was also a skillfully driven Corvette C6, M3 BMW, MX-5 and sprinkling of BRZs, the mentioned GT500, a new Camaro and a wickedly fast Mitsu EVo
I finished 18th of 22 beating 1 BRZ, a Boxster, a Cayman and the M3.(revision, I finished 17th, earlier missed a 911 on the sheet that made only a 4 runs before skipping the last group of four when the heat was up. AC use discouraged to prevent condensation on the track).
Given a tighter course, I could do much better but who can blame these guys. If I had a 911, I too would want to have room to let it breath
Fastest lap was by the highly Modified EVO.
pin.it/pbzgbimdclzfcx